In the ancient world, the ram was a symbol of strength, war, and male fertility. They were popular sacrifices on altars across the Mediterranean world and beyond. According to Classical mythology, rams were associated with the shepherd gods Mercury (Hermes) and Apollo. Here, in this gorgeous bronze sculpture, the ram is depicted with a pair of large wine skins draped across its back much like a saddle. Its thick, wooly fleece is finely detailed with incised lines indicating the individual tufts of fur. Its facial features are also quite intricately detailed, including the eye and spiraling segmented horns. The presence of the wine skins may indicate that this bronze sculpture may have played a role in the rituals of the cult of the wine god Bacchus. Such a bronze idol may have served as a symbolic sacrifice in place of the real thing. We can picture this sculpture once standing in a small private household shrine or in an altar in a cult temple. - (X.0172)

Antiquities
Ancient Roman